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I wanted to comment on the article Dan wrote yesterday in regards to Givens. Like Dan, I am far from an expert on breaking down a swing, but after reading the article I decided to watch Mychal a bit closer at last nights game. I have a grat view on right handed hitters sitting in the front row between home plate and the visitors dugout nightly.

What I noticed is that just as a pitcher prepares for his release, Givens drops the bat slightly and actually rests it on his shoulder. I never noticed this before but it seems to me that it slows down his bat speed and he is behind on getting to many pitches. In thinking about it further, you could understand how in school, facing a lower level of oponents, he might be able to get away with it. However, now, facing better quality competition, it looks like he simply cannot get around on them fast enough. Now, not being an expert, maybe I am way off base. It seems, though that hitters I've seen hitting with success (Shutz, Schoop, Machado), seem better prepared to swing at the plate than Mychal does.

I think if this challenge continues, the O's might want to think about putting Mychal back on the mound.

FYI...I will be going down to Salisbury as soon as Manny returns and has a few games under his belt. I will be doing a report on him, Jonathan, Mychael at that time. I will be providing slow scan stream video and site breakdowns to give you readers a good inside view. Not only game at bats, but cage work as well.

I will be providing similar content for a number of the higher ranked prospects in the system in a similar fashion as my draft compiles. It will be only for that outing and maybe more of what I think on their current standings compared to what I thought previously and give you a gauge on how well I think they have adjusted to pro ball.

What is something always to consider is that each player will be asked to work different aspects of their game during weeks at a time. It sometimes will skew the numbers, but they are trying to grow into a complete player in the minors.

This is especially true for pitchers, but all players go through these stages.

you guys are right, he is late on the fastball. The ball does seem to jump off his bat when he connects, line drives to right and right center. He is still very young, and I have seen him make some very difficult plays at ss. I would move him to 2b based on the fact that he will never leap frog Machado in the system. If a good hitting coach can shorten his swing a tick he could be good. The question is, can our coaching develop this guy?